Effect of Different Types of Recovery on Blood Lactate Removal After Maximum Exercise

Abstract

Introduction. Despite physiological changes caused by immersion in liquid medium, few studies have been conducted to determine the kinetics of blood lactate removal under these conditions. The aim of this study was to verify the effect of active recovery, using a specific water bike, on the blood lactate concentration after maximum intensity exercise. Material and method. Ten healthy cycling athletes performed an Anaerobic Threshold Test by Heart Rate (HR) on a bicycle ergometer and an Anaerobic Threshold Test by Subjective Effort Perception on an aquatic bicycle ergometer. Three maximal test was performed immediately before each recovery type, in three different days: Passive Recovery on Land -PRL (horizontal position for 60 minutes), Passive Recovery in the Water -PRW (horizontal position, with the help of floats, in swimming pool for 60 minutes) and Active Recovery in the Water -ARW (the volunteer performed exercises on a water bicycle to an intensity corresponding to 85% of the intensity of LA in water, for 30 minutes, and remained in the same position of the PRW for another 30 minutes). Blood samples were collected 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes after the maximal test, for lactate analysis. Results. The [La] blood did not show the difference between the three types of recovery at 5 th min. From 15 th min on, the difference between the ARW and the other two types of passive recovery was significant, and the ARW showed lower values. There was no significant difference between the PRW and PRL. Conclusion. Mere immersion in water is not enough to maximize the removal of blood lactate. This study demonstrates that active recovery held in water is effective for the removal of blood lactate in cyclists.

Effect of water-based recovery on blood lactate removal after high-intensity exercise

“…The results of the present investigation clearly show that immersion to the shoulder in 29°C water does not improve lactate clearance in active or passive recovery. These results are not in agreement with the only two studies on this specific topic in literature, which showed an overall positive effect of the water environment in the clearance of blood lactate [ 9 , 10 ]. These conflicting results can probably be attributed to the substantial differences in the experimental design of the studies, in particular, the modalities of intensity control in active recovery and the identification of the starting point of the recovery phase.…”

“…[ 9 ], the subjects recovered actively in both land-based and water-based conditions at an intensity equal to 65% of the age-predicted HR (calculated with the 220-age formula), whereas in the study by Ferreira et al . [ 10 ], the subjects recovered actively in land-based and water-based conditions pedaling at 85% of the HR corresponding to the ventilatory threshold. Hence, both studies used HR to equalize the intensity levels of active recovery in the two different environmental conditions, even though it is known that during submaximal exercise, oxygen consumption being equal, HR in water is lower than it is on land by approximately 10–15 bpm [ 11 , 13 , 34 – 36 ].…”

“…[ 9 ] and Ferreira et al . [ 10 ] correctly chose percentages of HR that theoretically determine workloads under the lactate threshold [ 16 ], the use of HR implies that subjects in both investigations made an active recovery that varied in terms of metabolic intensity according the conditions (land-based or water-based). Hence, the measured [La] b levels could not be compared because the intensity of the active recovery has a considerable effect on blood lactate clearance capacity [ 18 ].…”

“…The water temperature was chosen for two reasons: 1) to replicate a condition that athletes can easily find in real-life settings (29°C is the average temperature set in most swimming pools open to the public); 2) 29°C is the closest water temperature we could get to those of the studies we planned to compare our results with (i.e. 30–31°C in the study of Di Masi et al [ 9 ] and 28–32°C in the study of Ferreira et al [ 10 ]).…”

“…[ 8 ] have hypothesized that hydrostatic pressure, via extracellular fluid transfer to the intravascular compartment and the subsequent increase in cardiac output, may reduce the transport time of the metabolites, including lactate, which accumulate during exercise. However, only two investigations [ 9 , 10 ] have found enhanced lactate clearance when the recovery from a lactate-accumulating exercise protocol was performed immersed in water rather than on land. Unfortunately, both of these studies were flawed due to their use of heart rate as the control for active recovery intensity since it has been shown that exercises performed at the same oxygen consumption yield significantly higher heart rate responses when they are performed on land compared to when they are performed while immersed at different water depths [ 11 – 13 ].…”